Featured Videos

Abrego Development Co., local builders help with Extreme Makeover

Kevin Brown, president of Abrego Development Company, and local builders Jeanine Schoenert of D & D Custom Homes and Les Miller of Discovery Custom Homes L.L.C. usually are found working together in Abrego Lake or Eden Crossing, which are Brown’s two local acreage communities.

This week, all three have volunteered their time, energy and building knowledge to help build a new home for a deserving family in Wilson County. With a team of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EMHE) staff members, Gordon Hartman and Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio, and thousands of volunteers, Brown, Miller and Schoenert are helping construct a new home in just 108 hours for a wounded warrior and his family.

The family was informed on Jan. 14, when team leader Ty Pennington and the build team surprised them at their current home. The new home will be revealed to the family on Jan. 21.

With access to extensive local resources, Brown was asked to be one of eight project managers on the build team. When Brown asked Schoenert and Miller for assistance, they started coordinating even more local experienced volunteers, and they also were asked to be project managers.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the life of a very deserving local family. This is a serviceman who made a huge sacrifice for his country. The least we can do is make sure that he and his family have a safe and comfortable home that meets his specific needs,” Brown said. “We are all so blessed to be able to participate in this project. I am really proud how generous and hard working our area residents have been. It also is an honor to work with Gordon Hartman, a successful builder who created Morgan’s Wonderland -- the world’s first fully accessible family fun park.”

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs at 7 p.m. Sundays on ABC. Averaging 10 million viewers, the show also is viewed in 185 countries in 58 languages. This is the show’s ninth and final season. The airing of this local family’s experience is scheduled for the Christmas season, as a two-hour holiday special.

This year’s design team, in addition to the very popular Ty Pennington, includes designers Paul DiMeo, Paige Hemmis, Michael Moloney, Ed Sanders, Tracy Hutson and John Littlefield.

Abrego Development Company has Abrego Lake near Floresville and Eden Crossing near La Vernia. Both communities include one to five acre homesites, custom homes, amenities, and the advantages of country living with easy proximity to the city of San Antonio. Abrego Development also is developing Kenedy Station, a mixed-use development with 166 acres in Kenedy, which is in the heart of the Eagle Ford Shale gas and oil exploration.

Jeanine Schoenert, owner of D & D Custom Homes, learned the business from her father. (D & D stands for Dad and Daughter.) The company has been in business for 40 years with Jeanine proudly taking over for the last 10 years. She specializes in new custom home construction in Floresville, La Vernia, Adkins, Seguin and neighboring communities. D & D Custom Homes is located in La Vernia.

Les and Jennifer Miller are the owners of Discovery Custom Homes L.L.C. in Poth. Les is a Texas A&M University graduate who first worked in production home building in San Antonio. The couple have owned their custom home building company for seven years. They build in Wilson County and the surrounding areas.

Your Opinions and Comments

Mr Harris I hope he is 100%. That is the only way he will get the exemption. I know plenty wounded warriors who dot get 100%. Maybe they could make an exemption of he isn't. Thanks for looking into it. I used to watch extreme ... More ›

Mr Harris I hope he is 100%. That is the only way he will get the exemption. I know plenty wounded warriors who dot get 100%. Maybe they could make an exemption of he isn't. Thanks for looking into it. I used to watch extreme makeover all the time till I heard the stories of a bunch of families that they built homes for then the family couldn't afford the sales taxes. Some of these families lost thier homes. Don't wantthis to happen to this great family. Thanks again

To Airborne Trooper...I'm not sure of Mr. Harris' disability %, but I plan to find out. He should be entitled to a property tax exemption if he is 100%. I'll follow up on this with WCAD. Thanks for bringing up this topic.

Thanks for all the kind comments. This is a great project for a great family. Jeanine, Les and I are proud to be a part of it...we have each volunteered significant time, resources and dollars to help make this happen. To ... More ›

Thanks for all the kind comments. This is a great project for a great family. Jeanine, Les and I are proud to be a part of it...we have each volunteered significant time, resources and dollars to help make this happen. To Spec Ops...I understand you feelings, but I wish you would research us a little more before indicating that it takes Hollywood to cause us to act. You have no idea of the past, current and future committments we make to several community causes on an annual basis. As developers and builders, we also offer significant discounts to Veterans...wounded or not. We volunteered for this project for its cause...not because of Hollywood. Also understand that 100% of the materials for this project are donated...something that is difficult to achieve given the last few years in our industry.

Myself,my daughter and a whole group from DSASA were there at Morgan's Wonderland yestersday to give our support to the Wounded Warriors project.We met with some of this special wounded soldiers and their families.

I agree it's a wonderful thing. Thanks to all those involved in helping a wonderful family. Now I ask the Wilson county property tax appraisal folks to be easy on this family and give him a break on thier property taxes. I'm ... More ›

I agree it's a wonderful thing. Thanks to all those involved in helping a wonderful family. Now I ask the Wilson county property tax appraisal folks to be easy on this family and give him a break on thier property taxes. I'm sure the new house will be valued at alot more then thier old house which means thier taxes will go up.

This is a great that we are giving this Soldier something great for him and his family. I only wish that it didnt take Extreme Makeovers to make this happen. All these volunteers and homebuilders should have stepped up long ... More ›

This is a great that we are giving this Soldier something great for him and his family. I only wish that it didnt take Extreme Makeovers to make this happen. All these volunteers and homebuilders should have stepped up long time ago and helped this wonderful family. I am a retired veteran of 27 years and have seen the wounded warrior daily at Brook Army Medical Center. We have many of these soldiers who lose an arm or a leg and they get maybe 50% disability. That is not enough for someone to survive, much less provide for his family. Although I thank alot of these homebuilders, I wish they would have stepped up, before the show and its large crew and TV cameras came to town. Let us not forget our wounded heros and do all we can to help them. I dont want to start a whole debate on this, I simply want us all to realize, there are alot more out there like SSGT Harris and his family. Many blessing to SSG Harris and his family, you are wonderful people who strive to help out wounded warrior, despite your hardship.

The Wilson County News print edition will hit the newsstands tomorrow around noon with a full page of the latest photos from the home site. We will be posting a daily Photo of the Day online showing the progress.